Faculty Senate

Pre-Doctoral Associate Proposal

---

Submitted to: UM Graduate Council

Authors: J. McNulty and Dean D. Strobel

Approved: March 14, 2007

Contents:

Pre-Doctoral Associate Description and Rationale

Teaching Assistant Description

Cost Analysis – various scenarios

Other Considerations: Financial Aid Issues, International Students, Fee Structure

Credit Analysis

Other Benefits

Case Study: Dept of Mathematical Sciences

Pre-Doctoral Associates

Pre-Doctoral Associates are available in some graduate programs. Students can be awarded Pre-Doctoral Associates either for one semester or for two semesters. All Pre-Doctoral Associates come with a tuition waiver. Check program descriptions for exact amounts.

Tuition and Registration Fee Waivers

Tuition Waivers cover only the cost of in-state or out-of-state tuition for  the approved number of credits. Other fees charged by the University are not covered. For academic year 2006-07, these fees total approximately $1,260 per semester. Included in the fees is student health insurance, which is approximately $611.50 per semester. (Graduate Assistants' Out-of-Pocket Expenses for 2006-2007). Fees are subject to change without notice.

Eligibility

Pre-Doctoral  Associates must be enrolled in a PhD degree program, have completed required coursework, and are in good standing. Pre-Doctoral Associates must enroll for a minimum of 3 credits per semester. Failure to meet these requirements, or failure to maintain an acceptable level of academic and work performance, is cause for terminating the associateship.

Deadlines – same as for teaching assistants

Rationale:

Currently many programs do not have adequate funds to support their graduate programs at their desired levels. In addition, programs often fund several advanced PhD students on assistantships each year who have completed their coursework and are enrolled in the 9 credits per semester of research or dissertation required by the Graduate School. In addition, enrollment in graduate courses is often low. The goal of this proposal is  to increase the number of supported TA's and increase enrollment in graduate courses. This will be accomplished by  re-directing tuition dollars from those students taking 9 credits of research or dissertation, simply to fulfill the minimum credit requirement of a TA, to less advanced graduate students taking 9 credits of actual coursework 

It is anticipated that in many departments, these “advanced teaching assistants” will be given more advanced teaching duties. This will enable doctoral students to teach a wider variety of courses and hence gain more experiences in the teaching aspects of their careers, and increase their marketability for future university faculty positions.

The description of  Pre-Doctoral Associates is modeled on that of a teaching assistant (see description below also available at http://www.umt.edu/grad/money/teachingassist.htm ).  The TA description is general in order to fit the needs of many diverse departments. The PDA description should likewise be quite general.

Teaching Assistantships

Teaching assistantships are available in most graduate programs. Students can be awarded teaching assistantships either for one semester or for two semesters. The minimum stipend (2 semesters) for a teaching assistantship from the Graduate School in 2006-2007 is $9,000 for Master’s level students and $14,000 for Doctoral level students.. All teaching assistantships come with a tuition waiver. Check program descriptions for exact amounts.

Tuition and Registration Fee Waivers

Tuition Waivers cover only the cost of in-state or out-of-state tuition. Other fees charged by the University are not covered. For academic year 2006-07, these fees total approximately $1,260 per semester. Included in the fees is student health insurance, which is approximately $611.50 per semester. (Graduate Assistants' Out-of-Pocket Expenses for 2006-2007). Fees are subject to change without notice.

Eligibility

Teaching assistants must hold the bachelor's degree, be admitted to the Graduate School in a degree program and enroll for a minimum of 9 credits per semester. Failure to meet these requirements, or failure to maintain an acceptable level of academic and work performance, is cause for terminating the assistantship.

Deadlines

In order for students to receive their first paycheck on Sept. 1, their contracts and all other payroll information must be turned in to the student payroll office by Aug. 8. The paperwork is sent by department support staff in individual programs to the Graduate School, the College of Arts and Sciences or the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs for processing. Please contact your program for information about the status of your contract for fall semester.

Students who completed filling out contract paperwork by Aug. 8 will receive their first check on Sept. 1. Subsequent pay dates are the first of each month. Students who received a TA for one semester will receive their stipend in 5 equal installments. Students who received a TA for two semesters will receive their stipend in 10 equal installments.

Students who did not complete their contract paperwork by Aug. 8 will receive their first check on Oct. 1 in a combined payroll for August and September. If this delay causes a financial hardship, students are advised to contact Mary Kamensky in the Graduate School at (406) 243-4598.

The individual program information sections of this web site describe application procedures and give more detailed information about TA positions.

Cost Analysis:

Data from 2006-2007 Registrar:  http://www.umt.edu/bussrvcs/files/MSLATuitionFee07.pdf

Advanced Graduate Tuition and Registration Fee ($30 per semester) for resident and nonresident  per year as a function of the number of credits.

Table 1

Table 2

 

A comparison of the costs of Pre-Doctoral Associates (taking 3 credits per term) versus Teaching Assistants (taking 9 credits per term).

	Tuition Cost Comparison (NR)			Tuition and Stipend Cost Comparison  (NR)
Number	PDA	TA			PDA	TA
1	3902	11592			17902	25592
2	7804	23184			35804	51184
3	11706	34776			53706	76776
4	15608	46368			71608	102368
5	19510	57960			89510	127960
6	23412	69552			107412	153552
7	27314	81144			125314	179144

Table 3

In the comparison above, one can see that roughly one more PDA than TA can be funded for the same amount of money. (Eg. 76776 funds 3 NR TAs and 71608 funds  4 NR PDA’s).

Cost Analysis with Supplemental Teaching Funds

If supplemental funds, such as adjunct money (2618 per 3 credit class per term), are available to partially fund the PDA then the cost of the PDA goes down significantly.

Table 4

Table 5

Table 6

 

In the comparison above, one can see that roughly twice as many NR PDA than NR TA can be funded for the same amount of money. (Eg. 76776 funds 3 NR TAs and 75996 funds  6 NR PDA’s). For residents, the relationship is roughly, one additional PDA can be funded. (E.g. 42958 funds 3 TA’s and 40296 funds 4 PDA’s.)

Cost Analysis with Supplemental Teaching Funds – if additional credits are taken per term

If Pre-Doctoral Associates are enrolled in 6 credits per semester and supplemental funds are used then the cost of the PDA is still reduced.

Table 7

Table 8

Table 9

In the comparison above, one can see that roughly 1 or 2 additional PDA’s can be funded using the same amount of funds.

Cost Analysis with Supplemental Teaching Funds – if additional credits are taken per term

If Pre-Doctoral Associates are enrolled in 6 credits per semester and supplemental funds are used then the cost of the PDA is still reduced.

Table 7

Table 8

Table 9

In the comparison above, one can see that roughly 1 or 2 additional PDA’s can be funded using the same amount of funds.

Other Considerations:

Financial Aid Considerations:

Graduate Students who take less than 6 credits in a semester must begin to pay back student loans. Students in a degree seeking program who take less than 6 credits have a 6 month grace period before the loan re-payment begins. Thus, some students may need to enroll in 6 credits per term. Note that students in the last year of their program may be able to take 6 credits in the fall and 3 credits in the spring. (According to the Financial Aid Office at UM.) Students working on a dissertation who have completed coursework and are taking less than 6 credits can file a “deferment application” through the Student Assistance Foundation and postpone loan repayments.

International Student Considerations:

 

International Students who have completed course requirements and are working on their dissertation/thesis can fill out a form with Foreign Student and Scholar Services.  Once the form is approved by their advisor, they will can register for 1 credit and still be considered as having full time status. (According to the Foreign Student and Scholar Services at UM.

 

Fee Structure:

 

The fees for NR students enrolled in 9 credits per term and NR students enrolled in 3 credits per term who elect to pay additional fees for Curry Health Service, Activity Fee and Campus Rec Fee are comparable (1168 vs. 1014)

 

 

Credit Analysis:

Total Number of Credits each year taken by  PDA’s vs. TA’s (using minimum number of credits per semester):

Table 10

The total number of credits will slightly decrease. (Eg. 3 TA’s taking 9 credits per term will take 54 credits per year while 6 PDA’s enrolled in 3 credits per term will take 36 credits per year.)

Table 11

 

The total number of credits will slightly decrease. (Eg. 3 TA’s taking 9 credits per term will take 54 credits per year while 4 PDA’s enrolled in 6 credits per term will take 48 credits per year.)

 

 

Other Benefits:

 

Program Growth:

 

This proposal will allow programs to increase the number of funded graduate students.

Enrollment in Graduate Courses:

 

Currently, many advanced graduate students are enrolled for 9 credits of dissertation or research. Consequently, they are not enrolled in graduate courses. If funds are transferred away from these advanced graduate students to beginning graduate students, there will be a shift from “empty” credits to “real classroom” credits, and enrollment will increase.

 

Number of Degrees Awarded:

 

If additional graduate students are funded each year, the number of degrees awarded each year should increase as well!

Case Study: Dept of Mathematical Sciences

 

Pre-Doctoral Associates Description

·       Who is eligible? Advanced PhD Graduate Students who have completed all coursework and are in good standing.

·       Salary? 15000

·       Credits per semester? 3 (more depending on a student's approved program of study. Each year, each student fills out a program of study for approval by the advisor and the graduate committee.)

·       Teaching Duties per semester: Teach one class (as primary lecturer)  (Eg. Math 107, 109, 117, 121, 131, 132,  150, 152, 153 ) (Note: these are more advanced classes and/or more duties than a typical TA.)

There are 5 advanced student TAs in the Department who are candidates for this program. All students have completed all course requirements. All but one student has over 60 credits and all have 1-3 years left in the program. All are planning on taking 0-1 class next semester. All are excited about the opportunity to teach a broader array of courses.

Number of TA's and PDA's.

Without the program: 16 TA's

With the program: 5 Pre-Doctoral  Associates, 14 Teaching Assistants, 19 Total

 

 

Total Number of Credits taken by all Graduate Students in the Department:

Without the program: 144 credits per semester

With the program:  141* credits per semester

* The majority of these credits will be in courses (as opposed to research, dissertation...)

This is  assuming all students will take the minimum number of credits.

Funding:

Department of Mathematical Sciences' budget (Two sources: adjunct money and  graduate student money).

Consequences:

·       This program will give advanced graduate students an opportunity to teach a wider variety of courses and gain more experience for the teaching aspects of their careers. This is essential in preparing students for a university level job.

·       This program will enable the Department of Mathematical Sciences to fund an additional 3 graduate students. This will raise the incoming class from 4 students to 7. This increase will increase enrollment in graduate level mathematics courses and increase the number of graduate degrees awarded each year. 

·       This program will use existing funds - no new funds are needed!

 needed!